It was the night of November 18th and a terrible thing happened. A wonderfully terrible thing. The Patriots were trailing the Panthers 20-24 and Tom Brady was being inconsiderate to the Panthers' wish to win by driving his team down and putting them in position to score. There was three seconds left and Tom Brady goes back to pass. He has time. He steps up and throws his pass straight to the endzone to win the game and Robert Lester intercepts it. Panthers fans everywhere rejoice! But wait... there is a stir afoot in the back of the endzone.
So much was riding on this moment. The Panthers were seeking their sixth straight win after beating the defending NFC champ 49rs the week before and two division rivals the preceding weeks. They were on a roll and wanted to use that momentum to defeat the NFL's poster boys of success who were coming off a blowout of the Steelers and then a bye week. The team was on center stage for the NFL's most-watched weekly game and wanted to prove themselves to the world that they were legitimate, and who better to do that against than the New England Patriots?
The game had been tough, but hard-fought and well-played by the Panthers. The teams were fairly evenly matched as the result-pending final play suggests. What the game should be remembered for was Cam Newton coming into his own on the national stage. In the third quarter he had made several beautiful passes notably to Steve Smith (who really did not like Aqib Talib) and a sharpshot to Greg Olsen in the front corner of the endzone for a score. Most memorable of all was Cam's crazy scramble where he evaded something like seven Patriots and got the first down. It was the embodiment of Cam's potential we all knew and loved, but the nation had yet to see for themselves until then. It was a great performance by our star player.
But then there's that stir in the back of the endzone. In the final moments of the game a flag had been thrown against Luke Kuechly for pass interference against Rob Gronkowski, who was the intended receiver of Tom Brady's inconsiderate pass. The replay looked fairly damning, but then the flag was picked up. There was discussion among the referees about what the heck just happened. Evidently the ball was deemed uncatchable for Gronkowski, so the pass interference did not matter. No penalty was called and the game was over. The Panthers were 7-3 and had just clinched their sixth win in a row against a team the fanbase has more than a few negative feelings towards.
The call ignited controversy everywhere--ESPN, SB Nation, you name it. Some said it was uncatchable for Gronk because of Kuechly, which naturally infers pass interference. Others said it was a good call. The Patriots felt robbed. The Panthers got their win, but sadly that was not the talking point (at least not the way they wanted it to be). The fans of both teams were at each others' throats. It was a tense moment in the world of football.
I would like post a few comments from after the game, but honestly looking through a lot of them most all are emotionally charged and... less than kind. The bottom line is that the Panthers got a huge win which we should look back fondly over, and we all would probably do best to start talking about the game again with some distance between the final tensions. Overall it was one of the best games of the year and one I am sure Panthers (and Patriots) faithful will not forget any time soon.
Editor's Note: This series is a flashback of the 2013 season game by game by new, aspiring applicant authors to CSR. If you find one that you think is well written please give it a Rec. We will use the Rec as one of the measures to evaluate and select our new authors.